This policy is blatantly unconstitutional. It violates one basic tenet of the Constitution, namely that government can’t force participation in religious activity.

Force, no. But coercion as an alternative to prison–that would seem to be in place. What happens when the non-violent offender offended a church? Can you imagine a person defrauding a church of, say, a million dollars gong back to work for that or for another church?

Police Chief Mike Rowland:

Operation ROC resulted from meetings with church leaders. It was agreed by all the pastors that at the core of the crime problem was the erosion of family values and morals. We have children raising children and parents not instilling values in young people.

Do these people realize that crime rates have dropped significantly over the past few decades? Still, I wonder what they would say to having Wall Street swindlers doing pew time. There’s a vengeance mentality in the culture. I applaud alternatives to prison, but it would be better to have convicts serve the whole of society while being encouraged to rebuild their families. ‘Course this is all happening as some businesses decline to hire the ultimate criminals–the unemployed. No wonder they had to turn to churches.

about Todd Flowerday

A Roman Catholic lay person, married (since 1996), with one adopted child (since 2001). I serve in worship and spiritual life in a midwestern university parish.

about John Donaghy

John is a lay missionary since 2007 with a parish in western Honduras. Before that he served in campus ministry and social justice ministry in Iowa. His ministry blog is http://hermanojuancito.blogspot.com

He also blogs reflections on the lectionary and saints/heroes/events of the date at http://walktheway.wordpress.com

He'll be a long-term contributor here analyzing the Latin American bishops' document from their 2007 Aparecida Conference.